Stop Telephon' Me 'til the World Ends in Vegas
by KiannaLeighMV500
Summary: If it sounds like a triple song-fic about two people having a wild night spent ignoring everything and everyone they're usually about, throwing cation to the wind and getting sexy with a normally platonic same-sex best-friend, it's because that is exactly what it is. What happens in Vegas (and in random clubs and on airplanes and hotel beds) stays there.
1. Stop Telephon' Me

**Hello, dear readers. This has been up for a day and already I must make a note. Since song-fics apparently violate the terms and conditions of Fan Fiction dot Net the following version of this fic has been edited to remove the lyrics of the song in question. I feel the need to put that information as a warning at the beginning because the removal of the lyrics disrupt the pacing of the story in a way that I can't simply over-look. However rules are rules (even if they don't make any particular sense) and so I have complied with the standards. This will be re-uploaded elsewhere in full at a later date, but for now I hope this version still serves to amuse you, dear reader.**

**Regards,**

**KiannaLeigh**

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**Stop Telephon' Me**

The cement walls and dim buzzing electric lights gave the room a very bunker-like feel. The stainless steel stalls and dirty porcelain plumbing lent the place a particularly grimy feel. The underground bathroom in a seedy night spot really made Yuusuke grateful for the small comforts of home. No matter how small those comforts were.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket and held it up. The tiny, cheap thing had been a present from Keiko. Honestly the detective didn't think he needed it; he had plenty of communication tools from Koenma. Any of the people he had needed to talk to, he could find using those methods. But the woman insisted on him having a phone.

"What if I don't want to use those spirit world devices?" she had asked him. He supposed it didn't help that one of them looked like a mirror which one of her friends had picked up and accidently called Kurama on. That had been awkward.

So instead of using a nice well working otherworldly communication device, he was squinting a half dead phone with barely any bars. The detective flipped through the recent calls. He got through six or seven calls before looking up and growling. All the calls were from Keiko. Every single one. It was Friday night. Didn't she have anything better to do than call him.

No sooner had he thought that did his phone ring again. The ringtone was a flowery little jiggle and the screen of his phone flash bright blue and pink. Keiko. Yuusuke didn't even have to see the name to know it was her.

Yuusuke should have picked up. Oh god he should have picked up. He would hear about it later if he didn't. There would be questions to answer and explanations to give. Keiko would be pissed. It would suck. But …

But he didn't care. He really didn't care. She could wait. As could his mother, and Koenma, and Kuwabara and anyone else who was looking for him. Gods above, he did not care.

He cut off the incoming call with a press of a button and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Keiko would probably call again, seeing as she seemed to know when he was just ignoring her calls. But that didn't matter he probably wouldn't see her until Monday anyway.

He pushed open the restroom door at the same time that his phone started ringing again. The ringing annoyed him for about six seconds before the music from the club drowned it out completely. The raven haired man smiled. Good bye Keiko.

The buzzing of his phone was a small sensation compared to the all the other things there were to experience. The music was so loud it bore into his temples. Yuusuke wasn't sure how long his demonic hearing would be able to take the noise but he was determined to tough it out for as long as possible. Besides the noise wasn't half as bad as a smells. It was like a septic tank of human bodies. Strangely enough that smell made some part of the toushin hungry but he ignored that as best he could. The constant jostling of other living bodies invoked another sort of hunger in him which he was much happier to indulge. In the face of all that, the tiny intermittent vibration of his phone was nothing compared to all that.

Pushing his way through the crowd, Yuusuke smiled. His phone had just stopped vibrating and nine time of ten he wouldn't be hearing from Keiko for some time now. Now he could relax. He edged his way around a particularly dense section of the dance floor and found himself at the bar. Nice.

He hailed a barman and ordered a jack on the rocks. The man slid him one within a few seconds which Yuusuke slipped in the relaxed manner. He had drank in a while so he wanted to start slow at first. No since in getting knocked off his ass too early in the night.

He was halfway through another glass of jack and coke when he cell phone rang again. Annoying at the constant interrupting of his party-time by his real life, he fished the piece of technology back out of his pocket and picked it up.

"What?!" the detective shouted above the noise.

"Y-uke?"

"What is Keiko?" Yuusuke leaned in. He couldn't quite hear the woman. But then again, he didn't really want to.

"W-re are you?"

"I'm out!"

"Are y - c - ing back?"

"What?!"

"I s - you- back?!"

Growling the man shook his head. "Look Keiko I can't hear you. I'll call you in the morning, okay?"

"W-!"

"Bye Keiko!"

Snapping his phone shut Yuusuke looked up and ordered a glass of water from the barman. The man - a blonde with and eyebrow piercing - gave him a look, but filled a tall glass with water and ice anyway and slid it towards him. Yuusuke flashed him a smile and promptly dropped his phone into the glass. He then nodded pushed the glass away. The barman laughed. It was silent under all the noise but Yuusuke could see how hard he laughed anyway. He tipped his half finished glass at the man then went to finish it. When he set the glass down on the bar, he found another glass on the bartop in front of him.

The barman only glanced at him for a moment before slipping away to continue his work.

Yuusuke sighed as he took a sip from his new drink. He knew that Keiko being busy with her parents all weekend was a promise too good to be true. He adored the woman, really he did, but jeez he needed a break, some time to himself. That's all he wanted.

Sure his life was going okay. He had a pretty good job with his ramen shop. He was actually a helluva good cook. He picked up assignments from Koenma every once in awhile, read: all the damn time. It turned out that the little spirit brat couldn't do his job without Yuusuke on the ground doing the footwork. Everything was going fine. But jeez, it felt like things were doing too well. It was like the better he did, the more people expected of him. It sucked. Yuusuke didn't want people expecting things of him. He just wanted to live his life.

And so here he was. He was going to live for a while, even if he had to hear about it later.

Fifteen calls and counting. He really couldn't believe that toddler had called him fifteen -

ring-ring! ring-ring!

Make that sixteen times. Didn't that undergaed overlord have anything better to do than bother him on a Friday night. He was responsible. He did what was asked of him. He cleaned up everyone's messes. He looked after everyone around him. All he wanted was one night to himself. And he was determined to get it. No matter how many times the little brat called, he was not going to pick up.

"Kurama..." the girl next to him whined. The redhead blinked and looked up from his drink. He hadn't realized he'd been staring down into the glass until that was what he was looking at when she called his name.

The woman wasn't much in terms of brains. He'd only known her for an hour and he already knew that. But she had measurements like Elizabeth Taylor and not nearly enough modesty to be considered a proper young lady. For those reasons alone she was worth putting up with for a few hours. Kurama wouldn't be giving her his human name or anything else she could use to get ahold of him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be nice to her.

The man smiled apologetically. "Sorry," he shouted over the music. "I seemed to have gotten lost in my own thoughts for a moment. Not to worry. I've returned."

Once again the small cell phone like communicator that Koenma had given him rang. Kurama grit his teeth, wishing not only that he hadn't left the thing in his pocket, but that he could somehow shut the damn thing off. The toddler didn't even want anything important. Yuusuke couldn't be reached and Keiko was raising the underworld over it. Koenma was simply trying to shut her up. However baby-sitting the the newly returned detective was not Kurama's job. He kept track of Hiei, when Hiei allowed himself to be kept track of. What more did they want from him?!

"Is that your girlfriend or something?" the young woman next to him asked.

Kurama sputtered, nearly spitting out his drink as he did so. It wasn't often he was caught so off guard but that comment had done it. Did he give off the vibe of a man dodging his significant other? "No," the human formed fox insisted. "It's …" He paused and thought a moment. "It's work. Technically. A part-time job I take on when I have time."

"Shouldn't you be answering it then?"

As if to underscore her point the phone rang again. Kurama growled in the back of his throat.

"I'm going to get another drink," the girl announced before getting up and walking away. Her mostly full glass, she left on the table.

Kurama stared at the flowery drink with disdain before downing his own stronger brew and getting up. As he moved away from the table his phone rang again. In frustration he picked up and began to speak.

"No, I do not know where Yuusuke is! And even if I do see him, which I highly doubt I will, I am not going to tell him he is being looked for and I will tell you why. Yuusuke, if he has any brains in that thick skull of his at all, is most likely hiding from all of you, who cannot find it within your power give a man a break from your incessant nagging for even a few hours of his life. This, Koenma, is why people become outlaws!" With a huff and an angry spike of his demonic energy he tore the phone away from his ear and crushed it in his fist.

The crunch that sounded as the last way to contact him splintered into pieces in his grip was highly satisfying.

Kurama sighed as he let the broken pieces of the phone fall to the floor. In moments they were scattered by the man feet moving around him. The redhead shrugged and pushed his way forward. He was tired. He was tired of pleasing everyone. Except for his mother, he really wished the people in his life would go find a nice hole to die in. He was sick of his life being a never-ending schedule of the things other people wanted him to do for them.

Yuusuke sighed. He had down three drinks and was finning very nice. The liquor didn't hit him as hard as it used to, but he chalked that up to him being a demon now and wandered away from the bar contently, none-the-less. He was feeling the spirits one way or the other so now he was going to dance and lose himself in the crowd.

It was nice to get away from everyone for once. Even if he was staring at Kurama from a mere three feet away.

Wait. What?

"Kurama?" the detective asked.

"Yes?" the red-head responded. He wasn't' dressed like he normally was. A t-shirt, jeans and sneakers was definitely not normal Kurama attire. He looked … well he looked like one of Yuusuke friends.

"What are you doing here?" Yuusuke asked with a grin.

"Avoiding my life!" Kurama answered. Then after a few seconds he added. "Koenma's looking for you. Keiko's busting his balls over you being gone."

Yuusuke said nothing for a moment. He just let the music and noise stand around them. After some time, when it was clear Kurama was not going to continue without an answer he said: "Busting his balls? You … curse?"

"Shut up!" the fox snapped. "Are you going to call?"

"Can't. I dropped my phone in a glass of water." Yuusuke shifted from foot to foot. "Can I use yours?"

"I left my mobile at home and broke the communicator Koenma gave me when he called me too much."

Yuusuke laughed, doubling over as much as he could in the small space. "Nice!" he commended the fox.

"So do you want to dance?"

Yuusuke looked up from his laughter to see Kurama gazing at him. "What?"

"You were going to the dance floor. Want to dance with me?"

Yuusuke straighten and stared at the man like he was crazy. "You? And me? Dancing together?!"

The fox shrugged. "It's not all that uncommon here." He glanced around then began pointing out several same-sex pairs dancing, men and women.

Yuusuke raised his eyebrows. Had he not been in the place so long that he missed that change?

"Come on," Kurama insisted. Yuusuke was shocked. Kurama hardly ever insisted on anything. "What's the harm? No one from our real lives will ever find out anyway. Let's dance."

Yuusuke looked back at the couples then refocused on Kurama. Why not? What was the harm anyway? Dancing with Kurama didn't make him gay for the guy or anything. They were taking a break from their normal lives, so why not do something non-normal?

"Okay," Yuusuke shouted over the noise. "Lead the way. But I warn you, I'm a shit dancer."

Kurama laughed as he turned. "It's fine. I'll just keep leading, then."

They made their way to the middle of the dancer floor, where it was so packed they were pressed together by the shear force of the crowd around them. They moved a little, mostly going with crowd. Kurama reached for Yuusuke wrist, presumably to lead him, but just as he did, the song changed.

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Hello readers. Quickie Note: There is, in fact, art of this story but as the piece is too big for my standard size scanner it will not be uploaded until later. Also, I've always liked this song, but when I found out what she meant by it, via Wikipedia, I really loved. It's so true. Okay, so one down two to go. See you next time.

Edit: The next chapter may make much less sense the originally written version. Like this chapter it is a song fic, in which the lyrics are used for pacing. But as song-fics are prohibited on Fan Fiction dot Net the pacing of the next chapter will be harder to follow then I planned. My apologies for any inconvenience. I hope it will be enjoyable none-the-less.

KiannaLeigh


	2. Til the World Ends

**Once again, I'll note that this is originally was a song-fic but the guidelines of this site prohibit song-fics (for some reason). However is this scene the characters are listening to the song on the dance floor so I'm leaving them in. That's that. The full version of this, with all the lyrics in all the chapters can be found of Archive Of Our Own under the name of KiannaLeigh.**

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The lights lowered; the bass went up. It was a throbbing sound that seemed to move up from the floor and work its way through the crowd from the soles of shoes up to hearts.

Kurama switched easily to the new rhythm. He was pressed against Yuusuke. The detective could feel the fox's body moving against his. The hunger from before made itself known again. But it was fine. This wasn't real life, so it didn't matter what he did. The man focused on the fox's movements and tried to match them. But Kurama was like water, like silk. He was smoothly flowing from one movement to the next.

_This kitten got your tongue tied in knots I see._

Kurama firmly took one of his wrists. The fox slithered forward and pressed them together. Yuusuke felt, rather than saw, the movements of his body. From behind his long, red eyelashes the fox watched him and smiled slyly.

"Keeping up?" he asked.

Yuusuke swallowed and a mouthful of hot saliva got pushed down his throat. He couldn't speak. It was hot in the crowd; there was no air. Kurama's breath on his face, the other's body moving against his, it all made him so hungry. The toushin couldn't speak so he grabbed the fox at his hips and forced them together.

_Spit it out 'cause I'm dying for company._

The toushin felt the fox sigh and hiss very softly. The red-head arched into him but only for the briefest of moments before pulling back.

"Now, now Yuusuke," he said against his cheek. "I'd like to agree with your line of thought, but I think we should talk about this a little." Kurama laughed, his voice lost in the wash of noise.

_You notice that I got it, I notice that you want it._

The line of the fox's throat as he tilted his head back and laughed was somehow immensely interesting to the toushin. Yuusuke moved reclaim his firmer hold on the man, but Kurama turned quickly and slipped from him. Before Yuusuke could find him again a presence at his back caught his attention. Kurama had circled behind him.

Yuusuke turned and Kurama took one of his hands. The fox wove their fingers together before moving once more to the beat. He released their hands, swung and swayed as much as the tight space would allow, only to return to Yuusuke with beats of the rhythm. All the while his mane of red locks swished around him and he laughed silently. The pressure of the crowd kept them confined to a bubble of space and in constant motion. Even so, the way Kurama slid against him didn't seem to be any accident.

_You know that I can take it to the next level baby._

It was, in fact fairly obviously that Kurama was doing just the opposite. He ground forward before stepping back. He pressed them together and whispered in Yuusuke ear so low that the toushin couldn't make out what he was saying. Constantly, he was was drawing him in. Yuusuke could tell where this was going. He'd been there before. But it hadn't been like this. Kurama promised a whole different level of delights.

_If you want this good ish, sicker than the remix, baby, let me blow your mind tonight._

Kurama himself mused that this wasn't unlike his past hunts, even of feral demons. Yuusuke wasn't difficult to lure in, not exactly easy, but intensely hungry while somehow lacking the knowledge of what he could be hungry for. He was curious and naive though he lusted while obvious foresight. It was an intriguing combination and one that piqued Kurama curiosity in turn. And that was where he got confused even while going along with everything.

Yes, the fox would have been lying if he said he hadn't ever thought of drawing in the younger man, but it had never been a serious thought. Yuusuke was, for lack of a better phrase, so very human. The man was had never been truly interesting to Kurama in a sexual way before. He did love Yuusuke but in an almost completely platonic way. And so now that he had the half-demon's sexual attention, Kurama would have admitted that it was nearly odd to entertain it. However it wasn't nearly odd enough for him to stop. Since he had the toushin's attention, he intended to make the most of it. He had come for a night of release, hadn't he?

_I can't take it, take it, take no. Never felt like, felt like, this before._

Of course none of these ironies occurred to Yuusuke. All he knew was that he was being teased. How else could the fox continue to slip so naturally from him while they were trapped on the crowded dance floor. The toushin's nose was filled with his scent. His normally, abnormally silently heart was rushing to the beat of bass. He itched to feel the kitsune under his hands.

When Kurama caught his eye Yuusuke tried to plead with him. If the fox was going to do something anyway, he might as well get to it.

_Come on, get me, get me on the floor. DJ what you, what you waiting floor?_

But the fox seemed to fond of teasing him, of letting them linger this half moment between intimacy and distance. He moved with the music, in few seconds doing more to infuriate and arouse the raven haired man than the latter had ever dreamed possible. The fox smiled at him slyly, at once beckoning him and keeping him from coming too close. The chorus washed over the crowd, a series of wordless noise began in a quick rhythm.

Kurama seemed to forget him for the moment. WIth the rest of the crowd he jumped to beat, singing along, lost in the music. For a second or two Yuusuke watched. His mouth opened, shaped in an "O" as if he was singing that wordless tune even before his call joined the rest. Slowly the toushin found his voice and he was calling out with the crowd, singing too.

They danced. For a few seconds the haze of arousal split open before the frenzy of that dancing. It was if something primal had been unleash in the crowd. The thumping of the bass mirrored the pounding of feet, the beating of hearts. Yuusuke closed his eyes. He felt everyone moving around him and for once felt himself apart of larger being. Kurama was pressed against him, part of it too.

_Watch me move when a I lose, when I lose it hard._

When he bass went down so the words could be heard again, Kurama wrapped his arm around Yuusuke's waist. He pulled him in and rocked with the sound. Something had changed in the fox. He wasn't teasing. He pulled Yuusuke along, almost as if he'd forgotten to play his own game. Yuusuke hardly noticed. They were possessed by the sound, moving as one.

_Get you off with a touch dancing in the dark._

It was no surprise when Yuusuke finally felt Kurama's lips on his neck. It didn't surprised him that the fix slid his hand down his spine. They swished and rocked. The real world, their real lives, was no more than a far off dream. But they were real. They feel of being pressed together was real and it was blissful.

_You notice what I'm wearin'. I'm noticin' you staring._

The ecstasy worked like a drug in their system. Every detail of the other was readily apparent to each of them. Kurama had scented oils in his hair. Yuusuke's skin was rubbed smooth by washing and the faint smell of a men's bodywash still clung to him. The fox's breath smelt like liquor and spices. Yuusuke had a pack of smokes in his back pocket under which his firm body was a pleasure for Kurama to hold. Their eyes were closed, but they were hyper-aware of one another.

_Hotter than the A-list, next one on my hit list. Baby, let me blow your mind tonight._

Even their minds were one. Yuusuke poor rhythm was covered completely when he merged with the fox. They swayed as one, never dumping or falling but swinging in perfect harmony. Even if they parted, as much as they could in the mass around them which pressed ever closer, they were one. It was blissful. They had hit orgasm, but had never come down from it.

_I can't take it, take it, take no. Never felt like, felt like, this before._

It was hard to tell if they were dancing anymore. They felt themselves inside one another, moving and panting. It was an impossible feeling to describe. The only thing that was truly tangible was a sense of completeness and bliss that even sex couldn't provide. It was mindless but they were part of something that neither of them had even thought existed. It was something they could only find together.

_Come on, get me, get me on the floor. DJ what you, what you waiting floor?_

And that thought lead to a single understanding to rise in both of them. It wasn't the crowd, the heat, the music. It was them. This was what they were when the merged.

Kurama opened his mouth and let a sound, something between a laugh and a fox's bark. Hundred's of years of self-control fell to the wayside. He was suddenly in touch with the instincts and urges that he had long suppressed under layers of cold, calculating behavior.

Yuusuke, though he felt it, was not as aware of the changes in himself. To him this was a blissful dream, or it would be, when the sun rose and shattered this hazy consciousness. But that was a long way off. When Kurama called, sounding his call in time with the music, Yuusuke called back.

_See the sunlight. We ain't stopping. Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends._

Their voice seemed to ring out forever. Even if this was a dream that would be broken with the morning, they didn't see any signs of that. They had each other. They were one. And they could go on like this forever.

_If you feel it, let it happen. Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends._

Even though the morning might shatter their union, even though they had said this wasn't real, their thoughts and spirits were one for now. A wave of shared emotion was rushing back and forth between them, holding them together in the middle of the sea of people. The world could rush without them if it felt like it. They didn't need it. They had all they needed inside the rush of feelings linking them. And part of them would stay there, long after the light burned away their dream.


	3. In Vegas

**You ****gotta help ****me ****out****. ****It****'****s ****all ****a ****blur ****last ****night****.**

When he woke up, Kurama found himself on his stomach on the floor. His body was sore, the kind of ache and rawness he associated with a hard-won battle. Even in waking, his body throbbed for more sleep with the same intensity as his protesting muscles. It took him a moment, but he realized he had to urinate. Great. He groaned. He did not want to get up, but his body left him little choice.

And so the fox pushed himself up to his knees and looked around.

His location was a complete mystery to him. It looked like a cheap motel room, but he had no idea where he was other than that. His head was cloudy. His eyes were as sore as his body.

"I have to stop drinking," the kitsune told himself and climbed to his feet. He swayed once, very dangerously, but managed to stay up. The feeling of having to vomit crawled up into his throat though.

Slowly shaking his head in an attempt to banish the vertigo, Kurama took his first heavy step of the morning. That one step nearly exhausted him, but he summoned his reserved strength, turned around, and pushed on towards a door in the back of the room where he assume the bathroom was.

"I really have to stop drinking," Kurama repeated. With tremendous effort, he made it to the door and let himself fall against it. Luckily, it held against his weight as he tried the knob. It began to turn in his hand. "At least there's that."

Kurama pushed himself back onto his feet and finished turning the knob. The door unlatched and the fox lurched his way through the opening.

On the other side of the door was a bathroom. It was small but clean and that was all Kurama cared about at the moment. Unfortunately, the room was not unoccupied. When Kurama staggered inside, Yuusuke looked up at the door from the floor.

"Ku … rama?" he muttered. The man looked green. He was naked, sitting on the floor next to the toilet and sinking of vomit and alcohol.

Kurama stared at the man for a moment before sluggishly stepping forward. "Move," he commanded.

"Why?" Yuusuke whined.

"I have to urinate, if you must know," Kurama snapped. He noticed suddenly that he wasn't wearing a shirt. What he was wearing were boxers, just boxers. "Move!" he commanded in a louder voice.

Yuusuke winced and began to crawl towards the door. "Okay, okay," he muttered.

As he past Kurama, the fox noticed two things. One, Yuusuke demon markings were somewhat visible stretching over the curves of his body. Two, Yuusuke was covered in claw and bite marks. Kurama tasted his own mouth. Traces of blood greeted him behind the alcohol and stickiness of morning mouth.

God what had they done?

**We need a taxi, 'cause you're hung over and I'm broke.**

After urinating, the fox felt somewhat better. He washed his hands and face as well as washing out his mouth with mouthwash before leaving the bathroom. He could walk almost normally when he left. Outside in the hotel room, Yuusuke was sitting on the bed watching a muted TV. He had a glass of orange juice in his hand.

As Kurama approached, Yuusuke leaned over and picked up a second glass from the floor. "Juice?" he offered.

Kurama took the glass without a word and drank half of it in a few quick gulps. "So," he asked as he looked at the TV. "Any idea where we are?"

"No," Yuusuke muttered. "But the TV's in English. You speak it right?"

"Yea." Sluggishly, the fox took the remote and flipped through the channels until he came to a news station. He watched it for a moment before turning it off and looked around. "Do you know where our clothes are?" Yuusuke was still naked but didn't seem to mind. Maybe he was too hungover to care. Maybe he was still drunk.

The detective waved over by the door that presumably lead out of the room. There in not so much a pile but a spread over the area were jeans and shirts and a pair of boxers. Kurama moved over to the clothes and found the clothes that were more likely his, a pair of a slacks and a button-up shirt. He didn't remember ever wearing the clothes, but he knew hadn't been wearing the jeans and t-shirt mixed in with them. Even without smelling the clothes, he guessed those had to belong to Yuusuke. The only question was: where did they get them?

The fox fished through his pockets. He sucked his teeth as he found the pockets empty then picked up the pair of boxers.

"Get dressed," he commanded. "Hurry up!"

Yuusuke caught the flying boxers and he slipped his feet into them as he answered. "Why? What's wrong?"

"What do you remember of last night?" Kurama asked as he pulled on his pants.

Yuusuke wrinkled his nose as he finished pulling up his boxers. "Not much. The club. We drank some. We left. There was another club. And then it all gets blurry. I feel like days have passed. I remember these loud pinging noises and flashing lights. I remember … cheering and …." He paused and looked at the fox.

Kurama was picked up his shirt when he noticed the toushin staring at him. "What?" he said coolly.

"I remember … kissing you," Yuusuke muttered.

Kurama only looked at his friend for a moment before turning away. "Yes," he said. "I remember that too. I remember the taste of your skin. The remember the smell of your blood and of your arousal." He smiled a little. "Who would have thought how you'd howl at my touch?"

Yuusuke wrinkled his nose as he approached the man, "Can we just pretend it didn't happen? I don't want to talk about it."

Kurama frowned. He was insulted and rightly so. But he refrained from speaking his mind for the moment. Instead, he got dressed and spoke on other matters, "Well, whether you want to speak of your intense attraction to me last night or not, we have other matters we must attend to. Chiefly, we have to get out of here."

If Yuusuke was annoyed with Kurama for bringing up the night before he didn't show it. He only looked at the fox and wrinkling his nose again. "What's the hurry?" he asked.

"We are in an American motel room. I don't know exactly how we got here, but I found a hotel key card in my shirt pocket and have brief memories of a better class hotel than this. Besides I know the name of that hotel. I can only assume we might find some answers if we go there."

"I have so many questions about that I don't know where to start," Yuusuke said dryly.

"Well, keep them to yourself," Kurama snapped. "We haven't got the time."

"But you haven't told me what's the hurry!"

Kurama paused at the door and looked back the the toushin, "I didn't have money in my pockets. I would never go anywhere without the currency of the place I'm staying. It must be back at the other hotel."

"So?"

"So, do you have American money?"

"No."

"Then we'd best depart before the bill for this room is due."

Yuusuke stared for a moment before his hungover brain caught up. "Fuck," he cursed and they left the room.

**I ****lost ****my ****fake ****ID****, ****but ****you ****lost ****the ****hotel ****key****.**

Kurama lead the way out of the hotel via a backdoor. Once they were outside, the sun and sounds of the morning assaulted them both harshly. Yuusuke staggered, but Kurama took his arm and hurried them on.

"How did we get to America?" Yuusuke asked.

"I'm not sure," Kurama replied. "I have an idea of the mechanics of course. I sometimes use a loophole in the jump from our world to Demon World to travel from Japan to other areas of Human World."

"How?!"

"It's a long story Yuusuke. Nevermind it. I know how we did it, but I don't know when we left or how long it's been since then. I'm not even sure if this is the first stop we made. Luckily, as I said, I do know that I've been to that hotel before which is good news."

"Really? Why?"

"I normally carry a fake ID with me when I travel, but it's gone. I'm sure I must have left it there. Once I get it, we can wriggle out of any trouble we might have gotten into."

Yuusuke paused for a moment and walked in silence. They stopped a ways from the shabby motel and Kurama started waving his hand in the air. As a taxi pulled up before them, Yuusuke spoke again. "Remind me to party with you more often," he said.

Kurama smiled. "That I can do," he replied slyly.

**Spare ****me ****your ****frickin****' ****dirty ****looks****. ****Now ****don****'****t ****blame ****me****.**

When they reached the hotel, Kurama told the cab to wait a moment when they went inside. He told Yuusuke to stay in the cab until he got back, just to ease the cabby's mind.

Inside the grand hotel, Kurama was recognized by the staff and greeted as Sully by some and as Mr. Beauchamp by the rest. He smiled. So that was who he had been the night before.

Walking up to the counter, he explained he needed a cash back from the register and promptly withdrew a fifty in tens. With money in hand, he went back to the taxi, paid the driver and collected Yuusuke. The toushin was none too happy when he came to get him.

"I thought you ditched me!" he hissed.

Kurama only glanced at him coolly. "Nonsense. I would never do that."

"I don't know what that guy said to me," the man went on, "but I'm pretty sure he was threatening me."

"I'm sure he was," Kurama responded as they reached the large elevator door in the back of the lobby.

The door slid open and a bag boy smiled warmly at Kurama as he exited. "Morning Mr. Beauchamp. Long night?"

"Impossibly so," Kurama responded. Then he nodded at Yuusuke and said in Japanese: "Roy this is Yuusuke, my friend."

The young man looked Yuusuke over before smiling wryly. "Your newest friend, I see." he said in Japanese. "How do you like America?"

"I don't remember most of it," Yuusuke responded.

"Beauchamp-san!" the young man exclaimed. "You're even more terrible than usual."

Kurama only shook his head as he stepped inside the elevator. "You have no idea. Send up a breakfast tray for two, will you Roy?"

"Yessir." The young man looked at Yuusuke and smiled widely. "Have a nice day, Yuusuke-san," he said in a purr then walked off.

Yuusuke entered the elevator and the door closed behind him. He glared heavily at Kurama for a few moments before talking. "Two questions. One, who's Beauchamp?"

"Sully Beauchamp is one of my alesis. Sully means South and Beauchamp means Beautiful Field."

"And Minamoto is South Field," Yuusuke added.

"Correct."

"Clever and so like you."

"Thank you. What was your other question?"

"What does he think happened?"

The doors opened. Kurama glanced at Yuusuke before exiting the elevator. The detective was hot on his heels.

"Kurama!" Yuusuke said in a warning tone.

"Please, Yuusuke. Sully." He stopped before a door and swiped a keycard. The door clicked opened and Kurama lead the way into huge and elegant hotel suite. When Yuusuke had followed him in, Kurama shut the door behind them. "And what did happen last night, is precisely what Roy thinks happened last night."

Yuusuke paused in front of the door and grit his teeth. Kurama could tell by the way the man's jaw clenched. "What would that be?" he asked.

Kurama frowned, but then moved forward to close the distance between them. He pressed his mouth to the man's and when Yuusuke gasped in shock, he pressed his tongue into the toushin's mouth. Instead of pushing him away or biting his tongue, Yuusuke moaned and melted into him. Kurama could feel him pressing forward. The aroma of arousal leaked into the toushin's scent. Pushing him up against the door, Kurama pressed his knee between Yuusuke's legs. The detective responded by moaning and throwing his arms around Kurama's shoulders. For a moment they kissed with abandon, but then Kurama bit Yuusuke hard enough to make him jump and pulled away.

The two men looked at one another. Yuusuke was flushed and panting; Kurama far less so.

"There," the fox said. "It takes two to tango as they say so stop glaring at me like that. It''s not as though I forced myself on you."

Yuusuke stood up against the door without speaking. He looked pissed off, but in Kurama's opinion more so because Kurama had stopped than anything else. After a while he spoke, "Yea," he said. "I guess."

"Good then. Now try to calm down. Put that," he gestured leisurely to Yuusuke's pants, "away. And let's figure out what we did last night."

As Kurama walked away, Yuusuke looked down to find himself hard under his clothes from kissing Kurama. Damn fox.

**You ****want ****to ****cash ****out ****and ****get ****the ****hell ****out ****of ****town****.**

As Yuusuke composed himself, Kurama worked on figured out what they had gotten himself into. He was remembering more and more about the night before, but the main details surrounded his body on top of Yuusuke's, the man opening himself up to him, their forms coming together and the bliss surrounding that union. Many of the other details, like when they left Japan and why and what Kurama was thinking when he decided to whisk Yuusuke off to a foreign country, were lost to him.

He sighed as Yuusuke entered the room fully.

"So when do we leave?" the detective asked. He looked sour. Kurama ignored him. He could be mad at his own impulses all he wanted.

"I find that I remember the whats,and wheres of last night, such as what we did - with one another and otherwise." Yuusuke huffed but Kurama continued to ignore him. "And where we went. However, the hows and whens and whys are lost on me. It's been two days, Yuusuke, since we arrived here."

"Two days?!"

"Yes. Smell that bed." Kurama gestured towards the unmade bed in the back of the suite. "We've slept in that bed. There are clothes all over the floor. We've been here for days, but why?"

"Who knows!" Yuusuke snapped. "Let's just go home already. I'd really like to put this behind me!"

**Don****'****t ****be ****a ****baby****! ****Remember ****what ****you ****told ****me****?**

"Yuusuke what happened, happened. Whether you like it in the daylight hours while you're sober or not, for two days or more we were lovers. Now get over it!" Yuusuke looked at him but his anger deflated. The man hardly ever held his way when Kurama was really firm with him.

"I guess," he muttered. "But I cheated on Keiko, you know. I just want to go home."

Kurama's anger too deflated as he gazed at the man. "Well, I suppose you did, didn't you. But it can't be helped. Demons aren't like humans. Sometimes … we have less choice. Sometimes our instincts …" He wanted to say "know what's best for us" but knew Yuusuke wasn't ready to except that. Instead, he said nothing and went back to his computer. "While we were here we went on quite the gambling streak."

"Did we?" Yuusuke wasn't looking at him. He seemed so far away. Kurama longed to get up and bring him back to him, but he didn't. He left it.

"Yes. Our total winning number in the thousands."

"The thousands?"

"In American money Yuusuke."

"What?!" The man beamed. "Really? Cool!"

"Quite. So we'll just go get it so we can split it up and go home."

"Wait, wait wait!" Yuusuke stepped in front of Kurama. "I want to go straight home. Forget the money Kurama."

The fox smiled and shook his head. "As I remember it, it was I who wanted to forget the money in the first place. You wanted to continue on. Remember that?"

"No!"

"Well I do. Come on Yuusuke. I'll call and cancel the breakfast tray."

"**Shut ****up ****and ****put ****your ****money ****where ****your ****mouth ****is****!"**

_Yuusuke laughed as he leaned over the fox. Kurama was chuckling too from behind his glass. Yuusuke had a drink but he thought maybe he had spilt it somewhere. It didn't matter. He could drink Kurama's. He leaned over and kissed the man's cheek._

"_I bet you're lying," he said and laughed a little. "There's no way you've done that. I can't imagine you even ever seeing a strip show, let alone taking a stripper to breakfast."_

_Kurama smiled and slipped an arm around Yuusuke waist. The detective laughed again and edged closer to his friend. "Yuusuke. There are hundreds of things, thousands of things, that I have done in my life that you have no idea of. I've lived over four thousand years in the Demon Realm, the Spirit Realm and here in the Human Realm. You have no idea what I have or haven't done."_

_The fox smiled and leaned up to kiss Yuusuke chin. The half-human laughed and settling into the seat close to Kurama. He took the fox's glassed and tipped to towards him. "Whatever, Kurama. But I'll bet money that you've never been to America." He tipped his head back and drank._

_Kurama watched Yuusuke throat as he swallowed. There was sweat on his skin from dancing. He wanted to lick it off._

"_Yuusuke, just because you lied about living in America, doesn't mean I'm lying. I can prove it."_

_The detective laughed so suddenly that he dribbled the liquor he was drinking out of his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his free hand and pressed himself against Kurama. He liked the smell of the fox. He liked the feel of them being so close. Slowly, he leaned in and kiss his cheek._

"_So prove it," he said. "Prove it."_

_For a moment the two men just looked at one another and smiled. Then, slowly Kurama turned his head away. "What do I get," he asked, "if I can prove it?"_

_A laugh tore out of Yuusuke before he could help it. When Kurama looked back at him he grinned darkly and pressed his mouth down on the fox's. Kurama saw his kiss and raised it with the use of his tongue. Instead of falling into the kiss, Yuusuke pulled away and laughed again. "You're really horny aren't you?"_

"_Maybe," Kurama admitted._

"_Okay then. If you can prove it, I'll let you do whatever you want to me." The toushin kissed the man again before continuing. "But if you can't prove it, I get to do what I want to you."_

"_So either way we both win," Kurama purred. "Deal."_

"_Deal."_

_They kissed to confirm it, Kurama leaning up and Yuusuke leaning down. They both tasted like liquor, but it was sweet and somewhat sticky, like candy._

**That****'****s ****what ****you ****get ****for ****waking ****up ****in ****Vegas.**

_The sun was hot on his naked body. They were laying on the beach. The water was far enough away that it didn't touch them even as the fell on the sand. Yuusuke shifted a little. Kurama was laying in his stomach with an arm draped over his midsection. The raven haired man stroked the limb idlily. His claws were extended and every so often he ran them down Kurama's flesh. He heard Kurama laugh next to him._

"_If we don't get up soon," Yuusuke said. "I'm gonna burn right around my dick."_

_Kurama laughed and scooted closer to him. "What a pity that would be. But I supposed you'd want me to sooth it with my mouth."_

"_Yea. I like the sound of that. Shoving my dick in that talented mouth of yours."_

"_Yuusuke!" Kurama said as he pushed himself up. His hair had these random strands of silver in it; they reflected the morning sun and made him sparkle. "Don't speak to me in such a vulgar manner!" The fox smiled playfully. "I prefer gentlemanly conduct, you know."_

"_Oh yea, I'm a real gentleman when your cock's up my ass. I moan like a real mother fucking gentleman."_

"_I think you do." Kurama swayed as he leaned over and picked up a small glass bottle half buried in the sand. The glass was an opaque blue and the bottle had a cork stopper in the mouth. The fox shook it and a something rattled around inside._

"_Are those the pills from before?" Pushing himself up Yuusuke grabbed at the bottle, but missed when Kurama moved it. "Come. Let me see."_

"_All in good time. They're better than with food. These find something to eat then take some more. Do you remember where we are?"_

"_You said … ugh … you said we'd go to Hawaii."_

_Kurama squinted and looked out into the ocean. "Hawaii. Yes. i think I remember that." He laughed suddenly. "Memories come back slowly with these," he told Yuusuke._

"_Did you really invent these?" the half-demon asked. _

"_I did. But don't ask me how. It's a secret."_

"_You probably can't remember anyway!" He laughed. "So where now?"_

"_Breakfast and then …. Sydney Australia."_

"_Australia?!"_

"_Yes," Kurama said and he pushed himself to his feet. "It'll be night there by the time we're done eating. You'll see. It's nice. I've gone to some wild parties down under."_

_Yuusuke laughed as Kurama tried to fake an accent and climbed to his feet. "Fine with me."_

**Get ****up ****and ****shake ****the ****glitter ****off ****your ****clothes ****now****.**

_They tripped over themselves as they fell into the elevator. The doors shut behind them and Kurama shoved Yuusuke against the wall and kissed him. Yuusuke squirmed to get out of the man's hold so he could breath._

"_I can't believe there were glitter cannons! And foam cannons!"_

_Kurama hummed his agreement as he kissed and sucked up the man's neck. He could taste the foam and glitter from the party on his skin. Yuusuke purred and stroked Kurama's shoulder in return._

"_Ugh … Kurama. Let's drink some more!"_

"_More?" The fox kissed the man's face. "Yea … More. Here." He pulled out the glass bottle from his pocket and smiled. "Here," he repeated and he fiddled with the top. Before he could get the cork loose, the elevator stopped and the door opened._

_The two men left the elevator. Yuusuke wobbled along, and Kurama struggled with the top of the bottle._

"_We still haven't been to America yet," Yuusuke sang. "I'm gonna win."_

"_You're not!" the fox grunted as he finally pulled the stopper from the bottle. He laughed and poured a few pills in his hands. He handed two over to Yuusuke's waiting palm and took the other two himself. "We'll get there. Besides, Hawaii is part of America. But first." He swiveled and grabbed the man around the waist. As they came together Kurama forced his mouth onto Yuusuke. Growling, Yuusuke pushed back at him. Their kiss lasted for a few moments before Kurama pulled away. "I'm going to ravish you again until you scream."_

"_Don't talk about it," Yuusuke hissed. "Do it. Now. Right now. In the hallway."_

_Kurama smirked and pushed the man up against the hallway wall. "I could. I could do it. I could have you right here against the wall."_

"_I bet you wouldn't."_

_Tilting his head back, Kurama gave one loud short laugh. His head and been clearing up, but now it was getting foggy again. He liked those pills. And the alcohol. And Yuusuke. He leaned into Yuusuke's neck and spoke. "Shows how much you know," he said._

**That****'****s ****what ****you ****get ****for ****waking ****up ****in ****Vegas.**

_The ceiling was odd. It was done in these patches that was like a lot of pictures with old frames all smashed together. The colors were light and bright like the color in Botan's kimono. The figures were mostly naked. The woman were sometimes covered with their hair or hands and the men wore sandals and carried swords and things of that nature. The frames parts were all ridges and and they were gold and sparkling._

_Yuusuke smiled up at the odd ceiling. He was sitting back on his heels with his knees spread on either side of him. Under him, Kurama was laying on his back smoking something that Yuusuke had never seen before that day. It was smelt sweet and make color bright and shining and made his body feel hot and good. Kurama was flaccid but still inside him. He didn't mind really. He liked it, sort of._

"_Kurama," he muttered._

"_Yea?" The fox blew out smoke and made the air sweet and fragrant._

"_The ceiling is pretty."_

_Looking up Kurama took in the sight then shrugged. "Early greek figures, Minoan Crete colors, Renaissance framing, general Pre-christian era Greco-Roman subjects. Sort of a mishmash but yes, very pretty."_

_Yuusuke looked down at the fox and smiled. "You're smart.," he whispered. "You're smart." The detective leaned down and kissed the fox's head. "You know who else is smart? Keiko. Keiko is smart too."_

"_Agreed. If she wasn't so pure hearted I think I'd like her more than I like you."_

"_No!" Yuusuke began to kiss the fox's neck writhe on top of him. "Don't like her more than me. Don't like anyone more than me. I won't let anyone else have you. I'll beat the crap out of anyone who tries to take you."_

_With a sigh, Kurama reached out and jabbed out his smoke in his ashtray. "If … if only Keiko could see you now."_

"_I don't care!" Yuusuke announced as he sat back up. "I'm not scared of anything!"_

"_No. You're not." A quick burst of energy and a shove later Yuusuke was under him moaning loudly and pulling him closer._

"_I'll kill you if you chose Keiko over me." Yuusuke's words were low and husky, heavy, dropping out of his mouth like pieces of polished marble._

_The fox shook his head and smiled. "Who said anything about that?"_

**Why ****are ****these ****lights ****so ****bright****? ****Did ****we ****get ****hitched ****last ****night****?**

The ride back downstairs were terrible, simply terrible, because they were remembering more and more about their time together and Yuusuke remember being shoved up against the wall and kissed.

He glanced over at Kurama, who look cool and relaxed. Yuusuke wished he would feel the same way. He felt as though he was too close to the fox. He felt as though he was going to do something he regretted, like grab him and kiss him. He wanted out of the elevator and to be as far from the fox as he could get.

Finally the doors opened and they walked to the lobby. It was busier than before and someone the lights and noise seemed more intense.

"I think I'm gonna hurl," Yuusuke muttered. He took his left hand out of his pocket and shielded his eyes.

"Please don't," was all Kurama said at first. Then after a few more steps he spoke again. "Yuusuke. I don't mean to alarm you-"

"What? What is it?!"

"Well there is something on your hand."

Yuusuke dropped his left hand to find a ring gracing his second to last finger. He flipped his hand several times and frowned. "What the hell is that?"

"A silver band. Looks like real silver."

"Well that's helpful smarty pants!" Yuusuke snapped but then blushed. Kurama looked at him for a moment before gesturing with a nod of his head. "Never mind it Yuusuke. We were drunk and high on things you've never heard of. Whatever was said was nothing of falsehoods. I wouldn't take them seriously."

"Fine," Yuusuke muttered as he twisted the ring on his finger. "It's too tight for me to take off."

"We'll get it off later."

Kurama began to walk and Yuusuke followed at a slightly slower pace. What had they done? What had been real?

The feeling of Kurama … inside him. The feel of coming apart in his arms. He supposed … well there was no supposing. Kurama was his first. Oh God, Kurama was his first. He could never tell Keiko. He could never tell anyone. That was it. Well he got back to Japan he was going to be the best most dedicated boyfriend ever. He was going to work hard and study hard and cook Keiko meals and invite her to his apartment for dinner. He was going to go with her to her stupid college things. He swore it. He fucking swore it.

Glancing at Kurama, Yuusuke swallowed. The fox was at the counter, speaking in English to some girl. Hopefully they would be out of there soon. What had he been thinking? He should have never danced with the damn fox. Watching him, he wondered how Kurama felt about all this. He had been drunk and high too but still. Maybe he was different. Besides, he had mention liking Keiko. What sort of person did that? Maybe he liked Keiko. He supposed that possible. Well no way Yuusuke was sharing himself or Keiko with that fox. No freaking way!

Kurama turned and Yuusuke smiled. "So what's up?"

"Our winnings are at some chapel nearby. We'll get them on the way out."

Kurama started for the door and Yuusuke had no choice but to follow. "So how do we get out?"

"There's a portal to demon world nearby here in the desert. We'll rent a jeep, buy some water and head out there. From there we'll hope into the portal and if everything goes well, make a U-turn and end up back in Japan."

"And if it doesn't go well?"

"Well go straight through to demon world and then come back through and end up in Japan."

"Okay fine. So where to first."

"The chapel."

**Dressed ****up ****like ****Elvis****. ****Why****'****m ****I ****wearing ****your ****class ****ring****?!**

The chapel was a lopsided building with white walls and an old cross set up in the front with a nativity scene. Yuusuke stared at it from behind the expensive sunglasses that Kurama had bought him. He glanced at the fox whose mouth was a bit ajar. The fox seemed to take a moment to recollect himself before running a hand through his hair and looking at Yuusuke.

"Okay. So we're going to go in, get our money and get out. Got that?"

"Fine," Yuusuke said and gestured for the fox to lead the way.

Kurama made a face, but made his way inside. Yuusuke was uninterested in going inside at all, but without the will to wait in the jeep with the water, followed slowly behind. He was remembering a few details about the place. While Kurama talked with a mousy little woman with huge glasses Yuusuke looked at the pictures on the walls. They were exclusively of married couples: the men in the same or similar tux and the woman in cheap looking gowns. All of the couples looked drunk. Yuusuke scoffed at the photos. These people had at one time acted even stupider than he had.

As he got to more recent photos he saw that the couple now ranged from straight to gay to lesbian. "Nice to see people accepting themselves, I guess." He looked more closely at these photo and wondered if there people were are drunk as the others. Some of the gay couples didn't seem drunk and much other than happiness. Maybe they had gotten married right after it had been legalized and had chosen this shabby place to do it quickly. As he went through the photo he spied something that caught his attention right away. He could never mistake Kurama's flaming red hair.

He looked closely at the photo. He and Kurama, in the clothes they had found at the motel room, were standing together. There were three photos in their frame. One showed Kurama slipping a silver ring on Yuusuke's finger. The second showed them kissing. At this Yuusuke had to pause. they didn't look drunk or high. They looked happy. Quickly he looked around to see if he was alone. He when he found that he was, Yuusuke reached up and touched the large photo of Kurama kissing him. The fox's arm was around his waist. The kiss looked sweet, like something out of a movie. He looked like he was enjoying himself. The third and final picture showed them leaning together with each of their left hands exposed to the shot. On Yuusuke's hand was the silver band. On Kurama's was-

"Here!"

Yuusuke turned just fast enough to snatch whatever Kurama threw at him out of the air. The fox had a bag slung over his shoulder and was striding towards the door. "Grab that picture there and come on."

Yuusuke did a double take before pocketing the item and snatching the picture off the wall. He was only half in the car when Kurama stepped on the gas and began to pull away from the chapel.

"Are you mad?" Yuusuke asked as he struggled to get his seatbelt on.

"We got married!" Kurama snapped.

"I saw. The picture on wall proves it. I guess that's where the ring came from."

"That's not the point. He charged me twice as much to get our little union dissolved as he did to make it. And I still had to pay extra to get him to erase the footage of the wedding and take all the photos down! Slimy little bastard. I should have killed him!"

Yuusuke swung in his seat as Kurama took a turn much too fast. "Whoa! Slow down there Kurama. Try not to kill someone."

"What?" Kurama turned to him quickly before putting his eyes back on the road but did slow down. "Yea. Yea, sorry. Sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Yuusuke stuffed his fist into his pocket and retrieved the item Kurama had thrown at him. "So I guess you bought me a ring and I gave you my graduation ring."

Kurama glanced at him another second and smiled. "Yea. But it didn't fit right on me. That rat bastard was going to fix it. He kept all the money that was for fixing it too."

"I'm sorry about this Kurama."

The fox only waved his hand. "Never mind it. It couldn't be help. But at least we're not married now."

"I guess," Yuusuke responded as he pocketed his ring. "I still can't get this thing off." He looked at his left hand and frowned.

"Keep it. I bought it for you so keep it. Just put it away when you get it off. Use baby oil."

A streak of heat flashed across Yuusuke's cheek. He remembered the last time Kurama had told him to use baby oil. Kurama too was suddenly silent. It wasn't until they pulled onto the highway that he spoke again.

"I'll be glad to go home," was all the fox said.

**Don****'****t ****call ****your ****Mother.****  
**

Yuusuke stood before the gate back into demon world. Between him and the large round structure was Kurama. Kurama was looking at the gate, not him, but still, Yuusuke had this uneasy feeling about the situation.

"Kurama?" he said in a soft voice. "Kurama? You okay?"

The fox didn't answer. His shoulders were sort of hunched and his frame was trembling. It could have been a trick of the demon world light, but Yuusuke could have sworn he saw the saw the man's hair bleed out red to leave more silver behind than anything else. Slowly, Yuusuke edged around the man so he could stand next to him. Kurama's face was frozen in a terrible sneer. He had fangs and cold angry golden eyes. Yuusuke swallowed.

"You going to be okay, Kurama?"

The man looked at him, and Yuusuke felt himself tense for a blow, but suddenly the man sighed and let his anger go. "I'm fine," Kurama muttered. "I'd be better if damn gates wouldn't overheat and trap me places I have no wish to be, but I am fine, in general." He uncrossed his arms and walked away from the gate.

Yuusuke followed at a rapid pace. "Where are you going?"

"We'll have to make camp and rest until the gate opens. I'm going to call me mother and-"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Yuusuke sped up, cut in front of the fox and put his hands up. "You can't do that."

"What?" Kurama growled. "Why?"

"Because your mother will talk to my mother. And my mother will talk to Keiko. Or your mother will talk to Keiko. I can't have Keiko knowing about this yet. I haven't figured out what to tell her about this. I can't talk to her yet, and she'll want to talk to me. Please."

"Yuusuke," Kurama said slowly. There was an edge to his voice. "We have been gone for a very long time. This little weekend has extended into nearly a week of a drunken, drug-fueled haze. My mother must be worried sick. I told Koenma off just before we met. People are probably going out of their minds with concern. And you want me to leave them in their misery, because you can't explain yourself to Keiko."

Yuusuke stared at the man for a moment, worried that the words out his mouth would betray him completely. Kurama seemed taut as a bowstring, as dangerous as a loaded gun. Yuusuke's battle hardened body tensed in preparation for the blow that he could practically see coming. "Yes. That's about the sum of it."

Kurama stared at him and said nothing. Seconds ticked by. The fox merely watched him, his gaze steady and hard. Then, and it seemed very sudden to Yuusuke, Kurama sighed and closed his eyes. "Very well."

'**Cause ****now ****we****'****re ****partners ****in ****crime**

"I supposed it wouldn't do to throw you under the bus, as it were, now after everything that has happened." With a sort of dismissive grace, Kurama brushed past Yuusuke and began to moved farther from the gate. "We'll work out some story, a simple but alternate version of events. Removing all references to the drug use and sex."

Yuusuke followed at a slightly slower pace, trailing behind the fox a half step. "The sex I get," he muttered only just loud enough to be heard. "But the drugs I don't. What does that matter?"

"It matters because Hiei knows the drugs, knows what it does to people. We could have hated each other to the very core of our souls, and had we taken that drug together we would have been overcome with the insatiable urge to copulate like dogs in heat."

"I see," was the detective's quiet reply.

"And so you see why our story must be so altered. If Hiei finds out, we must either tell the truth to everyone or allow the man to have such a power over us that is had when you hold a secret of another that they are ashamed of. Not that I am ashamed. But I know you are and I - as Hiei well knows - am loyal to you."

**Don****'****t ****be ****a ****baby****! ****Remember ****what ****you ****told ****me****?**

Those words, that declaration of loyalty that was so simple and unabashed, surprised Yuusuke. He walked behind the fox, wondering what the man's face looked like, wondered how he felt.

For a while they walked together in silence before Kurama stopped suddenly. "We'll camp here," he announced.

Yuusuke gazed around. "Why here?" he asked as the fox made his way to a tree and sat at its base.

As Kurama sat, something in him changed. His demon energy rose from his body and reached out. Yuusuke couldn't see it but he could feel it. The plants could feel it too. They rose and swayed and shuddered in response. Then, all once they came alive. With claws and mouths and dripping fangs they stirred and hissed and slashed at empty , as suddenly as it began, with a strange whistle, like air coming out of a rubber balloon, the plantlife settled and resumed it's natural dormant state. Kurama adjusted his position at the base of the tree.

"Come sit, Yuusuke," he said. "We might as well rest."

Slowly, Yuusuke approached and sat on the ground next to Kurama. He was at Kurama's left, close to him but not touching. He leaned back, the base of the tree being wide enough to fit them both side by side. The raven haired man glanced to his right, taking in Kurama's face, his closed eyes, his delicate features pinched with some unknown emotion, then looked away. He wanted to speak, but didn't know where to start. He thought on it for a while before finding something to say.

"Do you remember when you said no one from our real lives would ever find out about anything we did?"

"I do," came Kurama's quick reply. "And they won't. Relax."

"I know. But, why did you say it? Why was that some stipulation for dancing?"

"It wasn't Yuusuke. I knew you'd never do it If I didn't reassure you. That's all."

"Fine," Yuusuke muttered.

"Fine," Kurama repeated.

For a long time, they just sat there. They didn't speak. Kurama seemed to drift off to sleep. Yuusuke watched the area around them. He wasn't tired. He was highly strung if anything, tense and terribly annoyed. He didn't know why at first. His mind kept returning to Kurama's promise that no one would ever know of their time together. Then, finally he spoke.

"**Shut ****up ****and ****put ****your ****money ****where ****your ****mouth ****is****."**

"Were you only reassuring me, or swearing that no one would know."

"Why?" Kurama looked like he had been sleeping, but the quickness of his answer told Yuusuke otherwise.

"I won't tell you unless you answer."

"I swear. No one will ever know what we did."

For a moment, Yuusuke didn't speak then he sat up and turned towards Kurama. The fox opened his eyes. The green of the iris was dotted with gold. His eyes were steady and deep and beautiful. Leaning forward, Yuusuke kissed the man, a long slow act, that drew Kurama up and forward. Kurama nipped at him, nudging him with his forehead and humming in the back of his throat.

In a few moments, they were undressed. Yuusuke found himself straddling Kurama, who was sitting with his back against the tree. The detective moaned as Kurama entered him. He'd never forgot that feeling. His breath came in ragged gasps.

"Is this alright?" he asked breathlessly. "Is it really okay to be doing this here?"

"You … ask that now." Kurama thrust up as he pushed his face into the crook of Yuusuke's neck. "We're past that point, Yuusuke." He thrust up again.

"This is your fault," Yuusuke whined. "You and your damn ideas and traveling and everything."

Kurama seemed to chuckle slightly at the comment even in the middle of bucking upwards.

**That****'****s ****what ****you ****get ****for ****waking ****up ****in ****Vegas****.**

_They laughed. They were sitting in a hotel room high above the Vegas streets. Yuusuke had gone through the entire room, just looking at everything, marveling at everything. Now they were laying on the huge bed, sprawled out and smiling._

"_I can't believe we're really here. I can't believe you did it!" Yuusuke groped for the bottle in Kurama's hand, but the fox waved his arm in the air, playing a little game of keep-away and making the pills inside rattle around. Yuusuke wondered how the bottle wasn't empty yet._

"_I did tell you that I would. You didn't believe me."_

"_I was wrong." Yuusuke reached up and finally caught the bottle. With a grin he began to work at the stopper, but Kurama rolled over and pinned him before he could get it off._

"_So I win the bet," the fox murmured. He was grinning, silver haired and golden eyed. The lust in his gaze was so thick it seemed he was hardly looking at Yuusuke, but only imagining everything he could do it him. "You're mine now."_

_Grinning back, Yuusuke leaned up to kiss his friend. The kiss was somewhat awkward because Kurama refused to lower himself to meet him, and after only a moment, Yuusuke flopped back down onto the bed. "You're not being fair," he protested airly. "I can't kiss you like that."_

"_I don't want you to kiss me," Kurama explained. "No. I'm going to ravish you again and punish you for doubting me."_

"_Punish me?" the detective asked with a laugh. "Really?"_

"_Really. And it's all your fault. You tempted me, challenged me with the bet." Kurama leaded down to whisper in Yuusuke's ear. "It's all your fault."_

**Get ****up ****and ****shake ****the ****glitter ****off ****your ****clothes ****now****.**

_The ceiling was rising and lowering on its own. Kurama knew it wasn't true. He knew he was drunk and high and that sooner or later he would sleep long enough to sober up instead of waking up, as high as he drifted off to sleep, but for the moment, the ceiling was dancing and he liked watching. For the last few days, he had been in a sensual haze that made his normal life seem like he distant dream. It seemed he'd always been like this, in a drunken cloud of glitter and spinning lights and Yuusuke's scent._

_Yuusuke._

_The man was laying next him, snuggled to his side and drawing invisible patterns on his skin with his finger._

"_What are you doing?" Kurama asked._

"_I'm drawing my markings on your skin," was Yuusuke's reply. "I can see them in red lines."_

_Kurama smiled hazily and shifted, messing up Yuusuke's invisible red-inked drawing. "How about we go out? We can gamble some at the casino. That would be fun."_

"_I think I'd like that."_

"_If we win," Kurama went on, "I'll buy you a wedding ring."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yea. A silver one. And we'll go get married."_

_Yuusuke laughed suddenly. "You're drunk," he muttered. "You're drunk."_

"_Yea," Kurama agreed. "I am."_

**That****'****s ****what ****you ****get ****for ****waking ****up ****in ****Vegas****.**

It was strange that the grass was so soft under him. That was all Yuusuke kept thinking, that it was so odd how soft and comfortable the grass was under his body. When Kurama was through with him - and he through with Kurama - he'd laid down on the grass on his back. For a while, he stared at the underside of the canopy and rested. Then, he began thinking about the grass.

Kurama was sitting against the tree still, combing out his hair with something he'd make from a seed.

"Comb my hair, Kurama?" Yuusuke asked as he rose to sit up.

Kurama flicked his eyes towards him and frowned a little. "You're still a little high," he said. "What are you going to tell Keiko?"

"I won't be high by the time we get back. I won't have these marks from you," he gesture to the bruises and bites on his neck and shoulders, "either, hopefully."

Kurama ignored his comment with a shake of his head. "What are you going to tell Keiko?" he asked again. "About us."

**You ****got ****me ****into ****this****. ****Information ****overload****, ****situation ****lost ****control****!**

"I figured you'd tell her something. Or that maybe you'd tell me what to say." Yuusuke shifted and pushed himself between Kurama's slightly parted knees. "Comb my hair?" he asked again.

Kurama continued to frown, but raised his hand and began to pull the wooden comb through Yuusuke hair. "I will give you a story," he said. "But I feel bad for Kieko. She's lovely. She's so lovely and you're not good to her anyway. I feel bad for doing this to her, for helping you lie to her."

Yuusuke shifted and frowned at his hands. "Do you love Keiko?" he asked the fox. "You talk like you love her."

"I feel bad for her," was Kurama's only response. He pulled the comb through Yuusuke's hair slowly and steadily. "I've always thought that way you treated her was unfair."

Yuusuke continued to stare at his hands. Somehow he still thought that Kurama felt something for Keiko. It was an odd feeling. He could just be being nice, but Keiko wasn't his concern and Yuusuke wasn't that bad. Why would the fox go out of his way to say these things? In the end, the detective closed his eyes and put it out of his mind for the moment. He couldn't deal with it.

**Send ****out ****an ****S****.****O****.****S****. ****and ****get ****some ****cash ****out****.**

_The night air was hot and sticky. They were stumbling along with their winnings in a bag slung over Kurama's torso. Kurama had one arm around Yuusuke's waist. Yuusuke had his arm over Kurama's shoulders. They walked slowly, both feeling sluggish and sleepy._

_In the casino, they had cleaned up, winning a great deal of money and walking out with people glaring at their backs. They didn't care. Kurama had promised Yuusuke a wedding ring, and they had gone to buy one. Now, with the silver ring fit nicely on Yuusuke's ring finger, they were walking to the chapel. Both felt they needed the fresh air. The world was spinning._

"_Yuusuke," Kurama muttered as they walked. "We're going to honeymoon in New York."_

"_New York? Really?" Yuusuke tightened his grin on the fox and smelt his hair. "Really New York?"_

"_Really. It's going to be fun."_

_Yuusuke laughed lightly. "Kurama you're amazing. We're going to honeymoon in New York, and you're amazing."_

"_I am amazing," Kurama agreed. "And you are going to marry me. I decided tonight."_

_Again Yuusuke laughed. "You're drunk," he sang in an accusing voice._

"_Yea. I need help. We should have gotten a car."_

"_You shouldn't drive!"_

_Kurama smiled. He saw that up ahead the small white chapel that he'd been given direction too was coming up on the right. The lights on the front lawn made it glow in the dark. "I would have called a car," he muttered. "But we're here now. Let's just go in."_

_More laughter. It was all so funny to Yuusuke. "We're getting married. We're going to honeymoon in New York."_

**We****'****re ****gonna ****tear ****up ****the ****town****!**

_They were once again walking in the night air. They had already been married. Yuusuke's ring was fit snugly and safely on his ring finger. Yuusuke's high school class ring, which he had produced suddenly during the wedding ceremony and given to Kurama, was ill fitting for the fox. Kurama had given it over to the preacher or priest or whoever had married them, and the man had promised to have it refitted by the morning. And so they would go back and get it after the sun rose. For the moment, they were going out to party._

_Yuusuke held onto Kurama's arm and smiled. It felt as if he was always smiling. "Hey Kurama," he called softly. Something in his mind was changing. The world was less shiny than it used to be. _

_The fog which had been an ever present fixture in front of his eyes was beginning to life. Yuusuke felt things he had felt. He notice Kurama's scent more. It was familiar in a way it hadn't been before, attached to memories that he had forgotten but that were coming back. Scenes and fact and images that he had put away were whispering to him from an ever decreasing distance. They tumbled into his mind, making him think of strange little things from his past. His mother, his job, his girlfriend. He swatted the unwanted things away, but they came all the same._

_Kurama took a long time to answer him. He seemed confused. He was still smiling, but there was a darkness across his features, like something was interrupting his happiness. "Yes?" he responded softly._

"_Kurama. I'm tired." Yuusuke leaned on the fox and tilted his head, offering his mouth for a kiss._

_The fox obliged, kissing his mouth firmly before speaking again. "I'm tired too, Yuusuke." He looked up ahead. Not far off a motel with a big bright sign stood across the street from where they were. "Let's stop. I want to lay down. I don't feel very well."_

_Yuusuke glanced at the motel but frowned and pulled on Kurama's arm. "No. Come on. We were going to party. We were going to go to New York. It's our honey …" Despite himself, Yuusuke swooned. He didn't feel well either. "It's our honeymoon," he whispered breathlessly._

_Kurama shrugged his shoulder, pulling Yuusuke toward the road. "I'm too tired. Let's go in and sleep. We have to get the ring and money anyway. We'll sleep then leave for New York. Come on. Let's go. Yuusuke. Let's go."_

_The fox pulled him gently, separating his tiny yanks with quick pecks on Yuusuke's face. For some reason, it occurred to Yuusuke that it was odd Kurama would kiss him. But he liked it, didn't he? He couldn't remember._

_He let Kurama lead him. They went up and got a room. At the door, they realized how hot it was in the room. Sluggishly, Kurama began pulling off his clothes. The action made Yuusuke smile, but he didn't know why. "I'm going to kiss you," he muttered but Kurama didn't hear him. Yuusuke wasn't sure when they finished undressing, but when Yuusuke took a step away from the door, he found himself naked. He managed a few tentative steps before sometimes happened._

_The floor rose to meet him. It didn't hurt. Yuusuke just found himself on the carpet. His body felt good. It nice not to be standing anymore. He really was tired. Kurama was laying next to him. He was facing the opposite way as him, kissing his thigh. Maybe the floor had risen to meet them both. Kurama would not have fallen._

_Yuusuke smiled as he shifted to pressed his lips to Kurama's boxer clad thigh. He kissed it, once, twice. Kurama rolled onto his side. The sight of the fox's hardened length, pushed through the slot of his boxers, confused Yuusuke. He wanted to pull away. _

_He wanted to kiss it. _

_He did the latter. He could feel Kurama's mouth on him. Husbands did this, didn't they? They had gotten married, hadn't they? But Yuusuke had a girlfriend, didn't he? Nothing made sense. Kurama's mouth felt good. Kurama tasted good. Nothing made sense. He was tired._

_The taste of Kurama's oragsm, which rang at the same time as Yuusuke's, was salty. To Yuusuke, it tasted like wine. He laughed as he licked his lips._

"_Go to sleep, Yuusuke," he heard Kurama whisper in the dark. "I'm going to go to sleep. Go to sleep, Yuusuke."_

_Yes. He was tired. So he slept._

**Oh ****don****'****t ****be ****a ****baby****. ****Remember ****what ****you ****told ****me****?**

Night fell, and then the sun rose. The gate cooled off, and Yuusuke and Kurama returned to Japan. The ended up a few towns over from where they were supposed to be, but after everything that had happened, they simply rented a car and got on the road. The drive was silent. Somehow being back had made everything that happened seem unreal. Yuusuke supposed that was a good thing. They could just forget the whole thing and move on with their lives. The ring Kurama had given him was stuffed in the pocket of his American jeans. He supposed he put away these clothes with the ring. His wedding band and his wedding clothes.

"So what are you planning on doing today?" Kurama asked him from the driver's seat.

Yuusuke glanced to his left and frowned. "I don't know. Call Keiko and my mom. Apologize for being gone. What about you?"

"The same basically. Try to make sure I have my job still. Ensure my mother didn't report me missing. Vow never to go out drinking again."

Yuusuke laughed. He couldn't help it. The whole thing made him laugh. After all, this had all started innocently enough. "Yea. Me too. I'm never drinking again."

"Especially not with me?" Kurama laughed too. The tension he seemed to have before melted.

"Especially not with you, fox! Remember what I said: This was all your fault."

"It wasn't," the fox countered firmly. "It was both of us in equal measure."

"Like hell I'm taking any responsibility for this!"

"So like you."

They both laughed. It was an easy, friendly thing, like they used to have together. Slowly, the laughter died down, and the silence that followed was warm in it's quality.

"You know," Kurama began as he shot a smile at Yuusuke, "we must be very good friends after all."

"How do you figure?"

"If this had happened between either of us and anyone else, they person would be dead right now."

Again, louder than the last time, they began to laugh. Yuusuke double over in his seat. The car swerved ever so slightly as Kurama tried to keep his composure. They laughed for a good few minutes as Kurama got off the expressway. He didn't mean to, but Yuusuke reached over and patted Kurama's knee affectionately. The touch sent a jolt through the them, stopping the laughter short.

**Remember ****what ****you ****told ****me****.**

Plunged back into tension and falling silent, the car rolled along on the familiar streets on their city. They passed the hospital where Yuusuke had gone to given up his life for Kurama. They passed the school where Kurama used to go, and Yuusuke had forgotten to call him by his human name. Soon they drove into the shabbier part of town. Kurama's fancy car stood out somewhat.

The familiarity of the streets made Yuusuke nervous. He now knew they would be back in their real lives and now he'd have to tell the lie Kurama explained to him and every time he did, the truth would pop into his head. He knew suddenly that some part of him would never forget.

"Kurama," he muttered. "I know I've asked you, but-"

"I will not tell anyone what occurred between us, Yuusuke." The fox voice was calm and steady, but it had this edge to it. "I know you love Keiko, despite your … less than conventional way of showing it. I wouldn't come between you and her."

"You seemed to disapprove of my relationship with her," Yuusuke accused quietly.

"Not at all," the fox answered.

**Remember ****what ****you ****told ****me****. Told me. Told me.**

"Now Yuusuke," Kurama said. They were sitting in front of Yuusuke's mother's place. The detective had decided to stop and see her before anything else. She deserved that much. "Should we go over it all again?"

"No, Kurama," the raven-haired man muttered. "I got it. I know what to say."

"Yuusuke, it's you who would be upset if this got out, not me. I'm only trying to be helpful."

"I know and I'm grateful. Goodbye Kurama."

Kurama peered at the man for a moment before sitting back in the driver's seat. "Goodbye Yuusuke. I'll see you around."

The detective got up of the car and shut the door behind him. Kurama didn't wait for Yuusuke to wave to him at the open door of his mother's like he normally would. He just drove off. As he got back to the main street, the silence in the car began to affect him. He hated it. It reminded him of the tense silence between Yuusuke and himself.

Frowning he flipped on the radio. To his surprise, an American song was on.

"Shut up and put your money where your mouth is! That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!"

Despite himself, Kurama laughed. That **was** what he got for waking up in Vegas, he thought to himself.

"Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now. That's what you get for waking up in Vegas."

Laughing again, Kurama tapped the steering wheel. He realized that what happened would be in his past, but it was an experience. Maybe he would tell Hiei after all, just to gloat. It had been fun after all.

"Shake the glitter!" Kurama muttered along with the song. "Shake, shake, shake the glitter!" His voice got louder and stronger as he went on. Why shouldn't he be happy? For a few hours, he'd been married to one of the most handsome men he knew. Raizen had probably been rolling in his grave, his son marrying a kitsune.

"Get me some cash out baby. Get my some cash out baby!" Kurama could hardly sing the words, he was laughing so hard. It was a good thing. He should be happy about his little adventure. It was funny!

At a red light he stopped and reached for his cell phone. He was going to call his mother and tell her he was alright. Unlocking the screen, he chuckled. He was happy.

Then he phone lit up. The background was a picture of him and Yuusuke together. They were laying in bed, snuggled up. Obviously Yuusuke had taken the picture with Kurama's phone. The angle showed that. Both of them were smiling, and honestly, they didn't look drunk or high. They looked happy. Kurama's smile fell. He clicked the lock on his phone and tossed in gently in the passenger's seat.

The red light turned green and Kurama waited his turn to go. As he went through the intersection, he chuckled again, because he wanted himself to. He was lying.


End file.
